Jersey Metropolis Councilwoman Amy DeGise will make her first — and probably solely — court look Tuesday in final summer season’s alleged hit-and-run with a bicyclist. She’ll be earlier than a court that’s designed to eliminate instances shortly.
DeGise, 36, is related to the political energy construction in Hudson County, and the case was moved to Essex county to keep away from conflicts of curiosity. She’ll seem in what’s often known as the remand court, a particular court meant to assist clear a backlog of instances.
The court normally disposes of about 200 per thirty days, in contrast to about 50 dealt with by different courts. It takes instances that would normally be assigned to municipal courts, and is designed to settle for lesser plea agreements in order to transfer instances shortly, in accordance to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Workplace web site. DeGise may probably enter a plea and be sentenced all in one listening to.
DeGise is charged with failure to report an accident and “action in case of an accident,” which is the technical time period for hit-and-run. An individual discovered responsible of failing to report an accident will be fined $30 to $100 beneath New Jersey legislation. An motion in case of an accident cost carries a nice of $200 to $400 and up to 30 days in jail for a primary offense, although a sentence of jail time is uncommon.
DeGise was elected to town council in 2021 on the slate of Mayor Steven Fulop. She is the daughter of Thomas DeGise, who’s each the Hudson County government and a frontrunner in the Democratic political machine. She works at a county highschool and was elected to run the social gathering’s county committee in 2018 earlier than stepping down final yr amid a power-sharing deal amongst political factions.
In July, she was caught on video hitting a bicyclist on the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Forrest Avenue in her SUV and driving on with out ever hitting the brakes. She turned herself in to the Jersey Metropolis Police about six hours later and the video ultimately went viral.
Residents referred to as for her resignation throughout 5 hours of public feedback at an August metropolis council assembly.
“I am not resigning,” DeGise stated on the August council assembly.
She has by no means publicly apologized to her constituents or the bicycle owner.
“July 19 and the weeks that have followed have been some of the most difficult, traumatic times of my life,” she stated from the council dias after 5 hours of public feedback, principally asking her to resign. “I am grateful that no one was seriously injured and I feel horrible about that situation.”
Solely two members of the Metropolis Council have referred to as on her to resign. Mayor Steven Fulop and Governor Phil Murphy help her remaining in workplace.
In a wave of destructive consideration that adopted the hit-and-run, video from a police-worn physique cam was revealed by the Hudson County View, exhibiting DeGise in 2019 attempting to cease a Hoboken police officer from towing her illegally parked SUV, which additionally had a automobile registration that had expired two years earlier than. On the video, she then tells the officer she’s the mayor’s workplace.
“Can you just wait a second,” DeGise says to the officer. “I just called John Allen and he told me to hang tight,” she tells the officer. He replies, “I don’t know who that is.”
Allen was the company counsel for Hoboken till stepping down in December 2022. On the video, DeGise tells the officer he works in the mayor’s workplace.
The officer doesn’t again down. “You can wait all you want ma’am, we have to tow the car. There are trucks that are trying to make the turn and can’t because of this. So I have to get the car out of the roadway,” he says, after which fingers her the ticket.